1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to detection and tracking of counterfeit currency and, more particularly, to the use of a radio frequency identification chip embedded in the currency and detected during transactions to determine likely counterfeit currency without reliance on inspection thereof.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Public confidence in money is central to commercial transactions and economic stability, both of individual countries and the world economy, in general. In the United States and many other countries, the money supply is carefully regulated in order to maintain exchange rates and the basic value of the unit of currency, such as the U. S. Dollar. The introduction of counterfeit currency into circulation, as has been done from time-to-time for many years, is thus not only fraudulent but, if in sufficient quantity, may cause disruptions in the operation of the economy. This problem has been aggravated in recent years by the issuance in larger numbers of larger denominations of United States currency bills such that the impact of each bill, if counterfeit, is proportionately greater.
At the same time, counterfeiting has become more sophisticated and thus more difficult to detect to the point that numerous features which are difficult to duplicate or simulate are being incorporated into the currencies of the United States and other countries to maintain some possibility of detection of counterfeiting. However, such features, at best, only permit detection of individual counterfeit bills and all require careful inspection or at least a modicum of effort such as inspection of a watermark in the paper having a design matching another feature of the bill or by applying a chemical to a bill which contains another chemical; the two chemicals, in combination, producing a distinctive color.
At the present time, there are two general classes of counterfeit currency: counterfeit bills made by criminals not affiliated with any government and those made by persons which are, in fact, affiliated with a foreign government or political entity. The former are usually but not always easier to detect since they maybe of lesser quality or omit some features which are costly and are not usually made in economically significant numbers. On the other hand, the latter type of counterfeit bills may be of much higher quality and sophistication since such governments or political entities may have access to equipment comparable to equipment used by the United States for production of genuine currency and thus may be indistinguishable from genuine currency and can be produced in potentially significant quantity.